syncope | (no subject)

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I just closed a tab that was a page on Henry Jenkins' website. My friends suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I attempted to wade through that ponderous prose and just gave up and asked for a summary. Yet I kept the tab open...thinking I would read it? Idk.

Seriously, do I need to read the books? I am inclined to read them so I can negotiate the show from the proper perspective, but I hesitate as I was burnt on THAT OTHER VAMPIRE CRAPFEST TEEN SERIES. How bad are they, with Twilight as the gold standard?

Are there coms and junk yet? I just dumped all the ontds off my fl so I have room for new garbage coms I can scroll over.

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Warning: in the books, Elena has eyes of LAPIS LAZULI. No, really. That may have some bearing on your decision...they aren't as bad as Twilight, that's for sure. But...

Oh, they're bad. I'm given to understand that some people have a juvenile fondness for them the way I loved The Silver Horse, but I didn't read The Vampire Diaries as a kid so...

However, with Twilight as the gold standard? At least I got more than a page into these. In fact I was able to read all four, although some of it was tough going. They're silly, some of the characterization is really silly, and if you don't like Elena in the show... well, I like her on the show and could barely stand her in the books. Caroline isn't as interesting, Jeremy doesn't exist, Bonnie is, like, Irish or something. In flashbacks Katharine is... kind of stupid. But also way crazy.

If you want to try before you buy, I have all four (the first four? I'm confused on that point) as .pdf files.

I assume by "gold standard" you are referring to THIS (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/consumerist/2009/05/luckygoldenpoo1.jpg).

The books are better than the Twilight series, but still quite BAD.

Saying that, I still enjoyed them when I was 12. I also enjoyed RL Stine when I was 12, so yeah, I don't know.

The books are pretty bad, but if you ignore Elena (she really is a lot better on the show) and pretend that they're intentionally bad they become a lot more entertaining. (The only other book series of hers that I've read is the Secret Circle and it's a lot better, but the love story is slightly more ridiculous. LJ Smith is hit and miss most of the time. Something must be sacrificed.)

I read the books at the age of 13/14ish and liked them. I considered rereading them when the show started, but knew that if I did attempt a reread today I'd be extremely disappointed. If memory serves, I'd say that they are better than Twilight, though almost anything is better than Twilight.

If you decide to read them, I wouldn't set your standard very high for them. They are your typical sci-fi young adult novel in which the author tries to play out her own fantasy of the ordinary teenage girl suddenly being the center of a mysterious, dangerous world where multiple hot guys are falling all over themselves to be with her.

I found Twilight much more readable than The Vampire Diaries. ;)

I actually think they are WORSE than Twilight. But like the show, the brotherslash kinda jumps off the page in a very intense way. There is one scene I cannot believe made it into a published YA novel O.o

As for comms, are you reading? If not, probably the best source of news, clips etc is

tvd_fans. If you're into the slash I co-mod a Damon/Stefan comm

salvatoreslash which has fic, discussion etc. of a broyay variety, and there is also

tvd_fic.

And I'm sure you're aware of Amber's friending meme?

The shows are so utterly different than the books that I don't think you really need to read them. In five eps, except for the names I already wouldn't recognize a damn thing. I love the books like you love a little brother with a head injury, so I'm probably the wrong one to ask. I keep wanting to go in there and cut people who crit them. :D

Also, books WAY slashier than TV if you put any thought into the mythos. And her other books are better--it's actually my least favorite series.

I read the books to prepare for the show. They were a billion times more readable than Twilight, but not great. The first two, in particular, were pretty boring. I'm pretty sure this is because they focus so much on the love triangle aspect (which isn't really a love triangle, it's actually bigger, but that's how it's always labeled). The third and fourth books were actually pretty interesting because they had more plot and monsters and weren't just teen vampire romances. I've not read the newest one, because I found the ending of the fourth patently ridiculous, but I probably will eventually.

Short version: Books one and two boring romance, books three and four mostly fun adventure stories.

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